1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a folding wagon having pairs of front and rear wheels and a fabric basket within which to carry a variety of articles or small children. The front and back wheels are positioned in axial alignment relative to another when the wagon is folded from an expanded open configuration during use to a compact closed configuration at which to facilitate transport and/or storage of the wagon when it is not being used.
2. Background Art
It is known for basket-carrying wagons to be folded and unfolded between open and collapsed configurations. However, the frame of such folding wagons tends to bind or stick when the wagon is being folded or unfolded. Such frame binding sometimes makes it difficult for the user to deploy or stow the wagon when it is not in use which often results in user frustration. Once the wagon has been unfolded to its open configuration, pairs of front and rear wheels are typically located directly below the basket. It has been found that locating the wheels below the basket can make the wagon unstable and subject to tipping over when the wagon is pulled rapidly or when the wagon travels over steep or bumpy surfaces. In this same regard, when the wagon is folded to its closed configuration, the pairs of front and rear wheels are correspondingly rotated towards and engage one another. Consequently, it is often difficult to completely fold the wagon into an ideal compact shape that is best suited for efficient transport and/or storage.
Regardless of the location of the front and rear wheels, the folding wagon is typically pulled by means of an elongated handle that has been coupled to the wagon near the bottom of the frame. Connecting the handle at this location on the frame has been known to cause the wheels to momentarily lock up and the wagon to stall when hard pushing or pulling forces are applied to the handle.
The baskets associated with conventional folding wagons are generally sized to carry a variety of articles and/or small children. However, such baskets are manufactured from a flexible material that is known to sag and collapse when the contents of the basket become relatively heavy. For some wagons, having the ability to locate an adjustable height canopy above the basket is advantageous to protect the wagon's contents from the weather. However, in some cases, it is difficult to easily and reliably connect (and disconnect) the overhead canopy to vertical canopy supports which stand upwardly from the wagon frame.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have available an improved folding wagon that overcomes the disadvantages that are described above and remain common to conventional folding wagons.